Blue berry gorgonian care

[gorgoniansfever]

This movie shows two polyps swallowing cyclops vicinus two times within 5 mins :

 

[gorgoniansfever]

This movie is made by a new macro lens.
I am very happy to get the image quality of the high-end lenses at a much more affordable price (use only $230 [second hand price])
This lens is Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2× ultra macro apo which is recommended by reef2reef's photography forum

Below movie shows blueberry gorgonian's polyps swallowing cyclops vicinus:

 

[gorgoniansfever]

The coral flesh grow on the base rock, nearly cover the whole rock

 

[gorgoniansfever]

Blueberry gorgonian's polyps swallowing baby brine shrimp with laowa macro lens

 

[gorgoniansfever]

The tentacles of polyps skillfully grab its food that proves they are a winning design of evolution.

Below movie shows blueberry gorgonian's polyps swallowing crushed fish pellets:

 

[gorgoniansfever]

https://ig-meeresaquaristik.de/index.php/Board/249-Azooxanthellate-Korallen-und-Filtrierer/
Above link about German non-photosynthetic enthusiast's valuable experiences, It's a treasure trove!!
Such experiences inspire me in feeding gorgonian.

 

[gorgoniansfever]

My System Specifications:

• Tank: Red Sea Reefer 200 G2+ (Display: 60cm * 58cm * 53cm)
• Skimmer: Nyos Quantum 220 (Running Wet Skim: 1 L/day)
• Wavemaker : Jecod DMP20M (20W)
• Lighting: 2 x Noo-Psyche K7 Pro V3
• Filtration: GFO / Zeolite Reactors
• Dosing: 4-channel pump (Ca, KH, Mg, and a dedicated mix of Iron + Manganese)
• UV Sterilizer: 20W
• Biological Media: 6 Liters of Sera Siporax

Water Chemistry & Nutrient Management:

• Calcium (Ca): 460 ppm
• Alkalinity (KH): 8.3 dKH
• Magnesium (Mg): 1280 ppm
• Nitrate (NO3): 15 ppm
• Phosphate (PO4): 0.1 ppm
• PH : 8.15--8.3

 

[gorgoniansfever]

Supplement :
24-25°C water temperature
Weekly 15% water change
Daily cleaning of the 225-micron filter sock

 

[gorgoniansfever]

The coral flesh grow on the base rock(new update) :

 

[gorgoniansfever]

My new feeding plan ：

1) morning : use crushed fish pellets (the particles is small enough for small polyps).
Such feeding can make all polyps open resplendently.

2) afternoon : use frozen baby shrimp (the size is suitable for middle and big polyps)

3) evening : use frozen cyclops vicinus

(All above are target feeding and try to feed all polyps)



Below movie shows polyps swallowing baby brine shrimp :

use crushed fish pellets(0.4g/day)
use frozen baby shrimp(two cubes/day)
use frozen cyclops vicinus(one cube/day)
This is all target feeding. I try to feed every single polyp three times daily with each type of food.
fish pellets photo:

frozen baby shrimp photo :

frozen cyclops vicinus photo :

 

[Elisabeth GER]

https://ig-meeresaquaristik.de/index.php/Board/249-Azooxanthellate-Korallen-und-Filtrierer/
Above link about German non-photosynthetic enthusiast's valuable experiences, It's a treasure trove!!
Such experiences inspire me in feeding gorgonian.

Thank you very much,

for the wonderful compliment!

Best regards, Elisabeth

 

[Dark]

Vielen Dank,

für das wunderbare Kompliment!

Herzliche Grüße, Elisabeth

Da schließe ich mich gerne an.

 

[Elisabeth GER]

The coral flesh grow on the base rock(new update) :

Keeping gorgonians can only be considered successful once a basal disc has formed.

You have undoubtedly achieved this goal!

Congratulations!

Best regards, Elisabeth

 

[gorgoniansfever]

There was a case in Taiwan where a hobbyist kept a mother colony of Blueberry Gorgonian, but it died after only three months. However, small polyps began to sprout from the remaining basal disc. By switching to target feeding with frozen rotifers, the hobbyist successfully raised these polyps into a new, healthy mini-tree, which has survived for over two years.

His tank water parameter:

Parameter	Value
Temperature	25.0 – 26.5 °C
pH Level	~ 7.85
Nitrate ($NO_3$)	~ 25 mg/L (ppm)
Phosphate ($PO_4$)	Undetectable (n.d.)
Alkalinity (KH)	~ 11 °dKH

Below movie shows the Taiwan successful experience in blueberry gorgonian:

 

[gorgoniansfever]

Above Taiwan successful case (PO4 undetectable) ,however, even though he managed to keep the Blueberry Gorgonian for over 5 years, it eventually passed away due to deteriorating water quality.

Below link is Taiwan aquarists' experience in Blueberry gorgonian:
https://www.ph84.idv.tw/forum/threads/313588/post-3344752

Some German aquarists say the Blueberry Gorgonian (Acalycigoria sp.) becomes "extremely sensitive" due to high phosphates (PO4), the combination of high water quality requirements and heavy organic waste makes keeping these corals exceptionally difficult.

Below link is German aquarists' experience in Blueberry gorgonian:
https://www.meerwasserforum.info/forum/thread/59548-anthogorgia-blueberry-haltbar-bei-fütterung/

 

[gorgoniansfever]

I am sorry that the difference between Acanthogorgia and Anthogorgia was not entirely clear to me before. In fact, both genera are often grouped together under the trade name 'Blueberry Gorgonian', which easily leads to confusion.

The following link contains a very detailed discussion in French regarding the comparison: Acanthogorgia vs. Anthogorgia:
https://www.cap-recifal.com/forums/topic/4482-anthogorgia-sp-acanthogorgia-sp/

The example from Taiwan is an Acanthogorgia sp. (formerly known as Acalycigorgia sp.), while the aforementioned German example is an Anthogorgia sp.

The first two examples previously mentioned on Reef2Reef are Acanthogorgia sp.:
https://www.nano-reef.com/forums/to...-care-and-culture/page/2/#findComment-4647861
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/blueberry-gorgonian-advice.887729/post-9824062

But my Blueberry gorgonian is an Acanthogorgia sp. (formerly known as Acalycigorgia sp.)

 

[Stephers]

I'm glad you're having so much success! I finally picked one up yesterday for my NPS tank. I've thought about it off and on a while, but I saw beautifully healthy specimens in person and I just knew this was my best chance for success. It opened up less than an hour into the tank and has been nonstop open since. I'm currently smothering it in live BBS twice a day.

Good to know about the phosphate. My other gorgonians definitely react poorly to high phos as well. I'm happy if mine is below 0.3ppm. I dose phosRx almost daily to keep it under that and water change weekly for the nitrates. Water quality is absolutely the biggest challenge.

 

[gorgoniansfever]

I'm glad you're having so much success! I finally picked one up yesterday for my NPS tank. I've thought about it off and on a while, but I saw beautifully healthy specimens in person and I just knew this was my best chance for success. It opened up less than an hour into the tank and has been nonstop open since. I'm currently smothering it in live BBS twice a day.

Good to know about the phosphate. My other gorgonians definitely react poorly to high phos as well. I'm happy if mine is below 0.3ppm. I dose phosRx almost daily to keep it under that and water change weekly for the nitrates. Water quality is absolutely the biggest challenge.

Great !! It's really not easy to find a healthy blueberry gorgonian. I can't wait to see the photos or videos of your coral!
Lanthanum Chloride is the main ingredient in phosRx, I've heard many NPS aquarium hobbyists love using this chemical to pull out phosphates .It's a game-changer for high PO4 levels.

 

[gorgoniansfever]

https://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/376279.pdf
Above link is a book : SOFT CORALS AND SEA FANS

In the book(p.184-- p.187) : " Acanthogorgia's sclerites are always colourless." "Anothogorgia's sclerites may be coloured".
Below photo is my blueberry gorgonian' polyp side view, its sclerites is coloured.
So, my coral is an Anothogorgia sp.

 

[gorgoniansfever]

There is a PhD Candidate of marine biology ,his research interests are coral and fish culturing，he spent those two years researching gorgonians.

Below link : He said that gorgonians are sensitive to ammonia and nitrite, you can add some filter media to lower them
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1L...ns&vd_source=e5b2bc316c174f78c05641980b7ea021

So, I use Siproax to break down ammonia and nitrite, and use zeolite to absorb ammonia.

Actually, I'm not satisfied with my current filtration system, It's too bad!, so I'm planning a new tank. I hope to improve the filtration and make it much better this time.